Thursday, January 28, 2010

Still No Flash?

One of the interesting things that was not included in the announcement of the iPad yesterday was support for Flash. It’s a nice big device, perfect for browsing the web and remote learners. But it doesn’t have Flash support. Apple has said in the past that they plan to support Flash at some point, but I’m beginning to wonder.

In the meantime, it seems like HTML 5 is picking up steam.

Any guesses on Flash support on Apple mobile devices going forward?

And if it’s not going to be supported, does this mean we’ll be looking at other delivery technologies going forward?

18 comments:

I have a suspicion that they will end up developing their own version of Flash. They've created their own version of a player and music files with iTunes, so why would you put it behind them? They wouldn't even be the first ones, what with Silverlight already being a second option. Otherwise, I can't imagine a reason why they wouldn't integrate it already. They aren't a fledgling company, and this isn't a new technology. Yes, the iPad (goodness gracious) is on version 1.0 right now, but it's based on already-existing technology, so that definitely can't be the excuse. I guess we'll find out. :-)

Flash is the number one reason for crashes in the apple operating system. It will never show up on the iPhone or iPad. Maybe they will develop their own, but for video quicktime has better performance so it's just a question of interactivity...could that come out of html5 and QT...?

There is a patch of sorts by Adobe planned for the ipod touch/iphone (basically it allows you to export a Flash app into something that can run on the ipod touch/iphone.) This articles reminds us that same will apply for the new iPad, Adobe: Flash Apps Will Run On The iPad, Even Full Screen At Some Point, http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/27/adobe-flash-ipad/

I agree with others that Flash will never appear on Apple's handheld devices, but for other reasons than those mentioned.

First, it's true that Flash performance on the Mac platform is horrendous, and this lies squarely at the feet of Adobe. I can watch a high-def video on my Mac in h.264 and it doesn't break a sweat. Yet when I watch a low-def video on YouTube my processor load shoots to 80% and the fans kick into gear. Horrible. Steve Jobs must be spitting nails knowing this and not being able to do anything about it (though I'm sure Adobe will claim that it's Apple that's the roadblock - and who can know for sure?). Apple does like their soup-to-nuts user experience, you see.

But here's the bottom line: what other proprietary technology from a single company is required to view so many websites? None. Adobe Flash is it. And why should any single company have a lock on the Web? The Web should not be a proprietary place, period. Microsoft tried to make the Web their own playground with IE (remember the "You must have IE for Windows to view this site" days? I do - those were dark times) and fortunately there was an uprising. IE no longer controls the Web, though we're still sifting through the IE-6-tailored-sites wreckage.

We need to move on to an open, non-proprietary standard for Web multimedia. HTML5 could be it, but only if enough people turn their backs on Flash. It looks as if Apple has chosen to lead the charge, and with many millions of iPhone and iPod touch owners, they make a large battalion. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Apple is doing this for the good of humanity, but regardless of their motivation, the end goal ultimately benefits us all: no more Flash-dominated Web.

I'll happily give up Flash on my iPhone (and iPad) if it means quicker adoption of open standards for Web multimedia.

Apple uses the H264 codec on Itunes and practically everything they sell. HTML5 also uses the same codec, so it is in Apple's interest to let Flash movies die. The problem is that Flash interactivity is thrown away with the bathwater. BTW, great blog, and cheers from Brazil.

?!? Unless you want to do page-turners/non-interactive content, then HTML 5 is not going to cut it. Flash is the only viable delivery mechanism at this point, and HTML 5 is not going to change that.

Example 1 (of thousands): HTML5 has a video player. But does it support cue-point insertion so that you can script the playhead to go to certain points in the video based on user action? No. That's just one of many, many problems. And did you ever stop to think that perhaps it is in Apple's best interest for the flash player to not work well on the Mac? While it *is* in Adobe's best interest to have the flash player to work well. I'm no Adobe fanboy (I have enough trouble with some of the garbage they put out, like Captivate), but the Apple fanboys are ridiculous.

Apple has been saying for years now that they are going to integrate flash on their remote devices. I am not surprise that they still do not have it but they continuously are coming out with new iPhones and iPads. I think that they are going to integrate flash on their phones soon because people are going to buy the iPad and really put the pressure on Apple because of the amount of money they are spending. When Apple do integrate flash on their remote devices there are going to be glitches for the first year or two because of the rush to get flash working on the devices.

Its strange to think that Flash would cause that many problems on the apple operating system. Is this on the entire operating system or just mobile devices? I'm a Instructional Tech student so I'm learning the ins and outs of the Adobe suit. I know that the profs that teach the developing courses seem partial to using Macs. One of the new courses was designed to teach Flash for mobile devices, which for a quick re-fresher on training would be great for a learner on the go. Although other smart phones seem to support FL, you would think that the iPhone being one of the most popular phones for mobile online usage would support FL a little better. @Talia do you think if Apple ended up developing their own version of Flash that scripting would be somewhat similar to AS? Maybe in CS5 the problem will be ironed out, I doubt it, but maybe.

About Me

Dr. Tony Karrer works as a part-time CTO for startups and midsize software companies - helping them get product out the door and turn around technology issues. He is considered one of the top technologists in eLearning and is known for working with numerous startups including being the original CTO for eHarmony for its first four years. Dr. Karrer taught Computer Science for eleven years. He has also worked on projects for many Fortune 500 companies including Credit
Suisse, Royal Bank of Canada, Citibank, Lexus, Microsoft, Nissan,
Universal, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Fidelity
Investments, Symbol Technologies and SHL Systemhouse. Dr. Karrer was
valedictorian at Loyola Marymount University, attended the University
of Southern California as a Tau Beta Pi fellow, one of the top 30
engineers in the nation, and received a M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer
Science. He is a frequent speaker at industry and academic events.